NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF

HEALTH AND MENTAL HYGIENE

Thomas Farley, M.D., M.P.H.
Commissioner

March 18, 2011

125 Worth Street, Rm 331
New York, NY 10013

+1 212 788 5251 tel Honorable Richard Gottfried

+1 212 964 0472 fax New York State Assembly
Legislative Office Building 822
Albany, NY 12248

Dear Assembly Member Gottfried,

As you know, the Assembly voted this week to eliminate more than $52 million
of the $58,415,000 in funding for New York State’s Tobacco Control Program,
which is a key partner in our effort to reduce smoking in New York City. If this
funding is not restored, New York will take a giant leap backward just as
smoking rates in the City are leveling off after years of steady declines.

I urge you and your colleagues to restore this funding as part of the final budget
agreement with Governor Cuomo and the Senate.

The State’s Tobacco Control Program funds several crucial initiatives that
helped save an estimated 9,100 lives last year and reduced New York City’s
smoking rate to its lowest in history. These include:

Public education campaigns: The State spent $1.8 million on educational

campaigns in New York City last year, resulting in an estimated 8,685
quits and 2,895 lives saved in New York City.

Smokers’ Quitline: Last year alone, more than 81,893 New York City
residents asked for assistance with quitting smoking through 311 and the
New York State Smokers’ Quitline.

Community education: The Coalition for a Smoke Free City received
funding from the New York State Tobacco Control Program, allowing
them to educate the community about smoke free air, youth access to
tobacco, and other life-saving tobacco control policies.

Smoking will kill 7,200 New York City residents this year – more than AIDS,
homicide and suicide combined—and it is all preventable. In addition, many
more suffer from debilitating smoking-related illness and the effects of
secondhand smoke. The pain of smoking-related illness, the pain of losing loved
ones to smoking, and the pain of watching our children suffer from asthma and
other effects of secondhand smoke are preventable. I urge you to make the lives and the health of New
York adults and children a priority and restore funding to the New York State Tobacco Control
Program.

Sincerely,

Thomas Farley, M.D., M.P.H.

Commissioner